The Final Hour (Volkov Bratva #3)(81)

Mishca’s jaw clenched, but he made no move to go near her, despite what the nearby officers seemed to think. “Is that a a threat?”

Agent Green leaned forward until they were eye level, her lips turning up at the corners. “And what of your wife, Volkov? How long do you think she has before someone leaves her in pieces for you to find? The State’s Attorney is offering you protection, a one time deal that expires in thirty seconds.”

“That’s quite enough, Agent,” Jessica said as she entered the room, dropping her briefcase onto the table, taking her place next to Mishca.

Not that Mishca minded her presence, he did wonder how she knew to be here when he hadn’t called her yet.

“And you are?” Green asked narrowing her eyes on the woman.

Staring coldly behind the black framed glasses, Mishca’s attorney wasted no time. “Jessica Turney, I was retained by my client’s wife.”

Mishca smiled, if only because Agent Green looked so irritated.

“I see your wife is learning, Volkov.”

Now that his attorney was here, he had no reason to respond to her taunts, especially when he was paying Jessica over a hundred dollars an hour to get him out of situations like this.

“Don’t be cute, Agent. And if you wouldn’t mind, I would like a word with my client.”

Now that Mishca’s right to counsel was invoked, there wasn’t much the agent could do. He watched her and the other officers leave, hearing the click of the door as it shut.

Looking to his attorney, he expected good news, since she had never failed him in the past, but the look on her face banished that hope as quickly as it had formed.

“We’ve got a problem.”



For hours, men in ‘FBI’ backed windbreakers were in and out of the apartment, searching through every corner for evidence of the secret life Mishca led. They even brought out electronic devices to sweep the walls. Though Lauren doubted there was anything for them to find—they hadn’t been living there long—she still couldn’t be one-hundred percent positive.

She tried not to hover as she watched them work, but any time someone called out for the lead agent Green had left in charge, her heart raced faster. She had no idea if there was anything remotely important in their apartment, but she couldn’t be sure.

After calling the attorney Mishca kept on call, Lauren then tried calling Luka, but his phone went immediately to voicemail, making her consider the fact that he could have been arrested as well. She knew better than to call Klaus, for obvious reasons, so that only left one person that knew what she should be doing at a time like this.

Alex arrived in no time at all, and while the agents didn’t allow her farther into the apartment, Lauren stepped outside so they could talk. If by the way she was scanning everyone around them, this wasn’t the first time she had been through this.

“Where’s the warrant?” Alex asked.

Lauren handed it over, biting at her nail as Alex read over it. Lauren had read a few back when she spent time with Ross at the station, and knew the basics of what to look for in the document, but she had never read anything as extensive as the one for Mishca’s apartment.

“Shit.”

The soft curse was enough to make Lauren’s heart rate triple. “It’s not good, is it?”

“They have a warrant for this place and his old apartment, and considering Luka hasn’t answered any of my calls, I’m assuming they got to him too.”

She didn’t have the time to even question why Alex was calling him. “What do we do now?”

“We—isn’t that Mish’s attorney?”

Sure enough, Jessica stepped out of the elevator, flashing her identification to one of the officers standing guard. He had barely nodded before she continued forward, directly towards them. The last time Lauren had seen her was the day at the precinct when she was questioned about Viktor’s death.

“Nice to see you again, Alex,” she greeted with a pleasant enough smile. “Lauren, could I have a moment?”

Alex stepped to the side, though it was clear that she wanted to know what the deal was as well.

Clearing her throat, Jessica began. “Seeing as how Mr. Volkov is my client, I can only reveal what he allows me—attorney-client privilege. If you do have any questions about what I’m about to tell you, I will try to answer them as best I can. Okay?”

Lauren nodded.

“Mishca is being held on RICO charges. Do you know what those are? Good, then you know he will face a considerable amount of jail time if convicted. Right now, we’re waiting to get him in front of a judge for a bail hearing, which we’re hoping for tomorrow, but I’ll call you with more details. Do you have any questions for me?”

Lauren was still trying to wrap it all around her head, but there was only one question that immediately sprung to mind. “Is Mishca okay?”

Jessica smiled, not unkindly. “From what I know about him, as long as you’re here, he will be fine. Now, how about I get this settled with the agents. You probably will want to stay in a hotel until we finish.”



Two days later, Lauren was getting dressed in her hotel room, every electronic device in the room turned off except for her cell phone, just in case Alex or Jessica needed to contact her. Anyone else got sent straight to voicemail. She had made the mistake of answering a call from Susan and Ross right after she had checked in, and soon realized that she was more than glad with her decision not to tell them about Jetmir and the Albanians.